Scars and Souvenirs
by Toxic-Tears-123
Summary: Jenny finally thought it was all over. She and Jak saved Haven City and the Precursors were supposed to be done with her. Things were supposed to calm down… but instead she's fighting for her life. And this time there's no one around to save her. JakxOC. Sequel to 'Rise and Fall'.
1. Thunder

**A/N: Hi all! Just informing everyone this is the sequel to **_**Rise and Fall**_**. It's the second story in what I am calling the This and That series. And for those that didn't know, I'm not jumping straight into Jak 3. I have a few surprises for you all. **

**Summary: Jenny finally thought it was all over. She and Jak saved Haven City and the Precursors were supposed to be done with her. Things were supposed to calm down… but instead she's fighting for her life. And this time there's no one around to save her. JakxOC. Sequel to 'Rise and Fall'.**

**Anyways I hope you enjoy the new story!**

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_**Scars and Souvenirs**_

**Chapter 1: Thunder**

**Four Months Later…**

I stood stock still at attention while Torn, the commander of the new Freedom League, stepped forward to address the council and governess, Ashelin Praxis. I chanced a glance around the room and saw Jak, Tess, Daxter, and Samos sitting nearby.

"As Commander of the Freedom League, I certify that Jennifer Cooper has completed all training and is completely qualified to take on the duties we have asked of her," Torn stated, his hands clasped behind his back.

I swallowed… It wasn't like the council liked me very much.

"Very well," Count Vegar, an old, slightly bald headed man said. "We agree. Cooper, as the Grand Council of Haven City we promote you to Lieutenant Commander of the Freedom League. Congratulations and good luck."

I finally allowed myself to relax. I'd been training hard for months with Torn to perfect my skills. I became a master with pistols and the Vulcan Fury as well as a pretty decent sharp shooter with the Blaster. Today had started out with me running through drill after drill showing my skill to the Council. Then I had to sit through an interview with every single one of them.

At least they were taking picking their leaders seriously.

A lot of things had happened in the four months since Kor's defeat. Haven was starting to rebuild. The slums had been bulldozed and New Haven, where Freedom League headquarters were located, was created. I joined the league and Jak… well he just did his own thing. He helped out a lot but he wasn't officially a member. He mainly helped me with my missions and took care of anything Torn thought was too tough for the recruits.

Jak and I lived together in the old Underground hideout. Not that we didn't practically live together before but we'd turned the hideout into our home. We'd pushed the bunks into a back room and created a small kitchen and living area. In the corner was a full size bed, hidden behind a curtain. We'd taken out all but one of the showers and put in a bathtub and counters and cabinets. All in all it wasn't anything fancy but it was home.

I smiled at the blonde as he walked briskly towards me. He wrapped his arms around me and swung me in a circle.

"Good job, Jenn," Jak said then pressed a kiss to my forehead.

"Well it's not like I didn't have help," I laughed, nudging Torn.

The commander grunted and left probably to find Ashelin.

Tess pulled me into a hug where she then squealed in my ear. Daxter and Tess were living at the Naughty Ottsel. The blonde woman had become a weapons designer for the Freedom League.

"Oh, I'm so glad they said yes!" Tess stated practically bouncing up and down. "I already have your lieutenant uniform and armor ready."

"Wow, Tess, thanks," I said with a smile.

Ashelin and Torn approached us. The governess gave me an approving nod as she walked past, heading for the exit.

"I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning," Torn stated.

"Yes, sir," I said with a smile.

"I think this is a cause for celebration," Daxter announced. "Drinks on me!"

I laughed, "Alright, Dax."

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**(Precursors)**

"_How is your plan coming, Thane?" the precursor leader asked from his place sitting in a large chair in the middle of the room. _

"_It is almost ready," the precursor, Thane, stated. "The girl will be out of the way soon. Everything is falling into place."_

"_And you've been… discreet?" Kilo asked. _

"_Yes, my lord," Thane gave a smirk. "Death will not suspect a thing."_

_Standing in a nearby hall way just out of sight, Alaster grimaced before storming off. Yes, he was a precursor. Yes, he was the leader of Earth. Yes, he served Life. But what the goddess was getting them into was too much. And the way the other precursors were going about it was just wrong. This wasn't what the precursors were supposed to be about. They were supposed to create life, not destroy it. _

_Sighing sadly, Alaster came to a conclusion, 'I have to help Jennifer.'_

_Alaster continued on his way, thinking up his own plan. _

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**(Jenny)**

I followed Tess into her weapons lab at Freedom League HQ. We had spent awhile at the Ottsel and it was getting pretty late. As soon as we were through the door she ran straight over to her work bench and threw a few articles of clothing at me.

"Put those on" she said as she ran to get something else.

I shrugged and began changing. The pants were black and slightly baggy but felt light once on. I attached the belt and knee guards she'd left, as well as black thigh holsters for my pistols. I grabbed my pistols from where I had sat them on the table while I had changed and pushed them into the holsters. They fit perfectly, though I wouldn't expect anything less from Tess.

Next I went for the top. It took me a moment to figure it out but I finally managed to pull it on. The top was sleeveless and corset like. Black covered my sides and most of my front except for the blue in the middle that was crisscrossed with black straps and the FL logo on the right breast. It stopped at the bottom of my ribs. Also, Tess had left me with black, fingerless gloves. Why I couldn't just wear shorts and a tank like I normally did was beyond me.

Tess came back with her arms piled with pieces of armor. I rubbed the back of my head as she threw everything on her desk.

"How do I look?" I asked.

Tess grinned, "Like a badass lieutenant."

I rolled my eyes as Tess took the armor and began attaching it to my body. I was worried momentarily on how the metal would feel against my bare skin but Tess had lined the inside with cloth. All the armor clicked together perfectly. At first I thought it would be heavy but after it was all on I realized it wasn't so bad. When I looked in the mirror I realized that Tess had just made me a female version of the normal FL solider armor. Although it had a strange gap in the back.

"Um… Tess? Is there supposed to be a hole in my back?" I asked hesitantly.

"Oh, of course!" Tess stated and pulled a holster from beneath her desk.

The straps were made of black leather but the part that held the gun was hard like my armor. Tess took off the torso part of my armor and strapped the holster onto me. The she put the armor back on and stepped away to admire her work.

"See the holster slides into the hole in the back of your armor so you don't have to have a separate holster for with and without the armor," Tess informed.

"Wow, Tess, thanks. I can't believe you did all this," I said with a smile.

"I couldn't let you run around in just any FL gear. You're a lieutenant now."

"Well I hope you're always there to dress me because I don't think I could get this armor on without you," I said with a laugh.

Tess smiled and began helping me take the armor off. I changed back into my previous clothes and folded the others up to take with me. I said goodbye to the blonde and headed home. I no longer had to worry about stealing zoomers to get around. The FL had provided me my own hover bike. It was just one of the old KG zoomers that had been repainted blue.

I climbed off the zoomer in the dead end alley and pushed the hover bike till it was out of the way before walking into the old building. Jak was laid back on the couch with his hand behind his head and his ankles crossed. His long hair was still wet, probably from a recent shower and he was only wearing a pair of khaki shorts.

I sat my stuff on the counter and went to walk past the blonde man. Instead, he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me down on top of him. I laughed as I rolled on to my stomach and smiled at him. Jak gave me a smirk before pressing his lips against mine. His hands rested on my back and I laced my fingers in his hair. The kiss was slow and gentle and I was in no hurry to stop it.

Eventually, I pulled back and smiled, "I'm tired. It's been a long day."

Jak smirked, "Alright, Lieutenant."

I rolled my eyes but pecked him on the nose before going to change for bed.

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"_Jennifer… Jennifer… you… hear me?"_

_My surroundings finally focused and I saw an image of Alaster. Every other time he would appear in my dreams it would be as if he were really in front of me but now his image was blurring. _

"_Alaster? What do you want?" I asked, crossing my arms and narrowing my eyes. _

"_Came… warn…" he voice was breaking up as bad as his body. _

"_Warn me? About what?"_

"_Precursors… plot… rid… you…," Alaster looked desperate to get his message across._

"_They're plotting to get rid of me?" I gasped, my eyes widening._

_Alaster nodded before his image completely faded away. _

_The floor fell out from under me and I began falling. _

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I jerked in the bed and sat straight up. I was breathing hard all the sudden and I broke out in a sweat.

Jak woke up and put his hand on my shoulder, "Jenn, you okay?"

I rubbed my head, flopping back onto the bed, "Yeah, perfectly fine."

"Was it…"

Before Jak could finish I stopped him, "No, it wasn't her… It was Alaster."

"The precursor?" the blonde clarified, rolling onto his side.

"Yeah," I stated, rubbing my eyes. "The other precursors aren't happy with me… They want me gone."

Jak's eyebrows drew together, "But why? I'm still alive thanks to you."

"I didn't follow their rules," I sighed. "There's something going on with the higher ups… Something big. I just don't know what yet."

Jak pulled me to him and kissed me on the forehead, "It'll be okay."

I gave a small smile before laying back down and going to sleep.

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I followed Torn through the hallways of HQ. He was walking fast, and add to that he was half a foot taller than me, I was practically having to run to keep up.

"Torn where are we going in such a rush?" I asked.

Torn scowled, "I left the new recruits alone to meet with the officers."

"So what's the big deal?" I was saying as Torn pushed open the door to one of the larger rooms.

I looked around and saw that our recruits were in complete disarray. They weren't in any formation what so ever and most of them were picking fights. I raised an eyebrow.

"Your first mission as lieutenant," Torn began, as he backed out of the room. "Train these newbies. There all yours from now one. Good luck."

I groaned and Torn left me to clean up this mess.

I stepped in front of them and yelled, "LISTEN UP!"

Nothing happened.

I pulled out my gun and fired a few shots into the ceiling and everything went quiet.

"Now that I have your attention…," I began as the men quickly formed ranks. "I'm Lieutenant Cooper and you answer to me from now on."

I heard a chuckle from the second row and turned on my hill to face the noise.

"Something funny, solider?" I asked in a sweet voice.

"You're our commanding officer?" he gave another laugh. "But you're a girl."

I motioned him forward with my finger, "Come here."

I pulled my two pistols out of there holsters and grabbed the Vulcan off my back and handed it to one of the other men, "Hold these."

I smirked at the man in front of me with a hand on my hip, "Let's see what you're made of."

"I'm not gonna fight a girl," the man snorted.

"Too scared I'm gonna kick your ass?" I said with a smirk.

"Alright, if you say so," the man said before he pulled back his arm to punch me.

Before he could even start forward I kicked him in the ribs. The man doubled over and I landed a few punches to his chest and face. I did a roundhouse kick to his face and he fell over to the side, landing on the ground with a thump.

"Any more questions?" I asked, once again using a sweet voice.

All the men were stock still.

"Alright," I said with a smirk. "Let's whip ya into shape."

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I slowed down and veered off the track with the recruits following in behind me. I gave them a few orders before dismissing them to go to the shower room. As they passed in front of me I heard footsteps coming up behind me.

"Have fun?" Torn asked as he stopped beside me.

"Oh, yeah tons," I laughed. "It wasn't so bad."

"Good," Torn shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Cause when I said they were all yours, I meant it."

"What's that mean?" I asked, as the last of the men went inside.

Torn rolled his eyes, "It means these are your men from now on."

"Wait, what?" I turned quickly to face the commander.

"You should be the one to train your own men," Torn said in a matter-of-fact way before turning to leave.

I groaned before following Torn in the HQ.

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**A/N: Dang, thought I would get this out quicker but with work and college I've been busy but here it finally is!**


	2. By The Way

_**Scars and Souvenirs**_

**Chapter 2: By The Way**

**(Precursors)**

"_Everything is ready, sir," Thane stated, bowing deeply to Kilo. _

_Alaster cursed, which was very unlike him, and walked away from his hiding spot where he'd been eavesdropping. He wasn't ready yet and he wouldn't be able to save her. He would just have to bide his time until he could. _

'_She can take care of herself for a while,' Alaster thought. _

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I groaned as the alarm went off and I woke up groggily. Jak had left to go help Daxter with a few things at the Ottsel earlier. I grabbed my comm. off the night stand and switched it on. Almost instantly a message popped up from Torn.

_I need you to go to the metal head nest and get rid of any eggs out there. We've been seeing a lot of them around and we need to destroy any eggs that are out there. _

_~Torn_

I sighed and began to get dressed. I pulled on my FL uniform and strapped all my holsters into place. By the time I walked out the door I was almost awake.

"Good morning, Lieutenant," a soldier said as I pulled my zoomer out of the alley. "Where are you off to?"

"Wasteland, Torn thinks there might be some eggs still out there," I said rubbing my eyes.

"Need any backup?" the man said pulling off his helmet.

I raised an eyebrow as I recognized the man who had questioned my authority yesterday.

"You're the kid who I had to teach a lesson too yesterday," I stated pointing my finger towards him. "Why would you want to help me?"

The man shrugged, "I learned quickly you won't put up with any shit and I respect that. I don't much like you but going to the metal head nest beats patrol duty."

I rolled my eyes, "Maybe next time. Get back to work."

The chuckled as he pulled his helmet back on and walked off.

I yawned as I climbed on my hover bike and headed out to the Wasteland.

Soon after I flew over the city wall the sand turned to water. Haven City was practically an island. Outside the walls started the desert with only a small sliver of land connecting Haven City to where the metal head nest was located. The real Wasteland, the place where Baron Praxis banished all the criminals too, was about a three hour ride across the ocean. The Wasteland was a large desert island that made the city look insignificant in size. Few people ever went there and because it was an island it was nearly impossible for those banished to make it back to Haven. And with the scorching heat, lack of fresh water, and surround by an ocean filled with enormous sharks it was the perfect dumping ground.

I landed my zoomer outside the metal head nest and began looking around. The place seemed to be completely deserted. After the fall of Kor the metal heads must have bailed. I sighed, shoving my pistols back into their holsters as I continued my search but finding nothing.

I shrugged and began heading back to my bike. I came out of the main nest only to see a group of about fifty men standing around it. They were all wearing a mix-match of armor and animal skins and they each had a large gun. These weren't any men from Haven. They were much taller and bulkier than even our strongest soldiers. Sig had told me about men like this, he had called them marauders.

I inched my way closer until I could hear their conversation.

"This is the only land connecting the desert to Haven City," a brunette said. "And it looks like one of their soldiers is out here as well."

The blonde, and obvious leader, nodded his head, "The engine is still warm so he couldn't be that far away. Men! Spread out and find this soldier! We can't have the Haveners learning of our plans."

My breath caught in my throat. The only way out of here was blocked by fifty armed men and it seemed like they were planning something big. How the hell did I get myself into this?

I made to move away and find a better hiding spot until I could figure out a plan to get out of this mess. I held my breath as I crawled from my hiding spot behind a large brick wall. I was too busy watching the men to realize until it was too late that my hand landed on a twig. The twig made a loud snap and the men quieted down and turned in my direction.

I rolled quickly behind a wall and pulled out my pistols.

"Get that girl!" the blonde marauder and obvious leader yelled.

I took a deep breath before leaning around the corner and firing at the oncoming marauders. Two went down quickly but there were so many and they were coming quick. I was so out of focus that I didn't notice one of them throwing a grenade my way. It landed against the other side of the wall I was hiding behind and exploded. I covered my head but a large chunk of brick came down landing right on my head. My knees buckled and I blacked out.

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**(Jak)**

The blonde hero sighed as he leaned against the bar. Daxter decided that he wanted to renovate the back rooms in the bar and since the blue eyed man didn't technically have a job the ottsel recruited him to help. They had just finished moving all of Krew's old things into a storage closet to make room for Daxter's new office.

The front door opened and Jak turned to see the FL commander walking in.

"Jak, you seen Jenny?" Torn asked, looking around the bar.

"Hello to you too, Torn! I'm great, how are you?" Daxter asked sarcastically.

Jak rolled his eyes, "Nah, haven't seen her since I left this morning. Why what's up?"

Torn shook his head, "She never showed up at HQ this morning. And it's not like her to oversleep."

Jak's eyebrows drew together, "I'll go check the Hideout."

"I'll come with you," Torn stated with a nodded following the blonde out of the bar.

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**(Jenny)**

I groaned as the bright sunlight hurt my eyes. My head was killing me and my hands were tied behind my back. My skin felt extremely hot and I guessed was probably sunburnt by now.

"Rise and shine," a man stated.

My eyes opened and I saw the blonde marauder looking down at me. I was tied to some railing near Mar's Gun. I looked around and saw that the other desert men were taking a break.

"What do you want?" I grumbled, feeling slightly nauseous from the pain in my head.

"Nothing you need to worry about," the man stated, sitting down across from me on a stump before biting into some sort of fruit. "Unless you decide to help us."

I glared at the marauder, "Like hell."

"Hmmm," the man sighed thoughtfully. "I've seen Haven City soldiers before and they don't wear uniforms like this. I'm betting your some kind of officer. And from the look of this," he tapped the insignia on my right arm. "I'd say you're pretty high on the totem pole. You probably know a lot about this city."

I sighed in frustration, "You won't get any info out of me."

The man stood up, "Very well, then you'll just be coming with us then."

My glare hardened and I growled.

The blonde man smirked, "You didn't think I'd just let you go after you killed five of my men, now did ya? And besides you know too much as is but I wouldn't want to hurt that pretty face so I'll let you live… for now."

I cursed as the marauder walked away.

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**(Jak and Torn)**

The two men walked around the corner into the dead end alley. Jak immediately walked over to the door and punched in a code to the keypad next to it. The door slid opened revealing the stairs leading down into the building. Jak went in first but suddenly stopped as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

Everything was completely spotless. And by that he meant that Jenny's things weren't lying around everywhere. The counter was clear of all the weapons she had been disassembling and cleaning, her dirty clothes weren't hanging over the back of the couch, all her reports weren't spread out on the small dining table, and even the muddy spot where she kicked off her boots every night had been wiped clean. Everything that was hers had disappeared.

It was as if she'd never been here at all.

Torn looked around confused. He'd lived with the girl for almost three years and knew that she wasn't much into cleaning. Unless Jak was a complete neat freak then there was something seriously wrong here.

Jak turned around to look towards the door and saw a small note hanging on the wall. He walked over to it and pulled it down. Two small words were scribbled on it:

_I__'__m sorry._

Jak dropped the note and stormed out of the Hideout leaving Torn stunned. The commander bent over and picked up the note reading it quickly. Something seemed off about it but he would have to talk to Jak to figure out what exactly was going on. But he knew that Jenny had gone MIA and he was going to figure out why.

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**(Jenny)**

"Let's move out!" the leader called.

We had spent most of the day near the metal head nest. The sun was just starting to set over the horizon when someone came and untied me from the railing. Two men grabbed my arms while another tied my hands in front of me. The blonde marauder walked over to us just as the other two released me.

"You, come with me" he said gesturing to me before taking off through the desert.

The other marauders fell into ranks behind him. The front row kept their guns ready and pointed at me. I looked around, carefully assessing the situation. Escape was impossible, I had no weapons and there were way too many for me to take on unarmed. We headed for a small dune nearby where more marauders waited with camel-horses and leaper lizards. The leader climbed onto one of the leaper lizards and rope was tied from my wrists to the horn of the saddle. Soon we were headed off deeper into the desert.

I fell in slightly behind the leader, "So where are you taking me?"

He smirked back at me over his shoulder, "Back to our main city. We were just out here scouting around."

"What will happen once we reach this city?" I questioned.

"Who knows," the man stated. "You'll either be sold as a slave or killed. I don't make that decision, the Oberjarl does. He will decide your fate. You may even end up as one of my slaves."

"I think I'm going to have nightmares," I said sarcastically.

"It wouldn't be such a bad deal," the man stated. "Some of the other jarls are not as kind as I to their slaves."

"Right," I sighed. "And if you were such a generous man you could have let me go."

"You killed five of my men and wounded a few others. Be lucky I let you live."

I nodded solemnly and feel back to walk a few paces behind him.

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**(Torn)**

The man entered Haven Forest cautiously. He walked to where the Great Tree was and saw a figure sitting on the ground in front of it. The blonde hero sat with his knees pulled up under him and his chin resting on his arms as he glared at the ground.

Torn walked over to the man pulling the note out of his pocket as he stood over the blonde, "She didn't write this."

Jak glared up at the commander, "How would you know?"

The commander smirked as he sat next to the blue eyed man, "Because I taught her to write. She never did put the second smaller dot on her y's."

Jak's look softened as he looked at the writing. Jak noticed how perfect the writing was. He hadn't paid much attention to her handwriting before but he knew that it wouldn't have been this flawless. Jenny wrote fast and normally left out a few small details.

"Why would you think that she would just run off without saying anything?" Torn asked.

Jak shook his head, rubbing his forehead, "Alaster spoke to her last night. The other precursors want to get rid of her."

Torn growled, "Then that's probably what's going on right now."

Jak stood up quickly, "We have to go find her."

"We will," Torn said, standing more slowly. "But first we have to figure out where she went."

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**A/N: TADA! Chapter 2 is finished… Sorry it took so long. **

**Anyways I'd like to give a special thanks to **_**Keyblades of Oblivion**_** who is the first person to review this story! Thank you very much! You gave me the push I needed to finish this chapter. **

**Anyways onto Chapter 3!**


	3. Lost in the Echo

_**Scars and Souvenirs**_

**Chapter 3: Lost in the Echo**

The sun had completely set in the desert and the temperature dropped drastically. My light uniform didn't help much to keep me warm and it wasn't long before I started shivering. I held my arms in tight to my body trying to conserve heat. Just when I finally thought I would freeze to death did we finally stop.

"Set up camp!" the leader yelled and the marauders broke ranks and began unpacking.

The first thing that happened was that they built a large fire in what would be the middle. The blonde marauder tied me to a couple camel-horses near the fire while he went to help his men. I rubbed hands over my upper arms trying to return some warmth to my muscles and fingers. My head was still aching from the hit it had taken earlier.

I wasn't close enough to the fire to feel much warmth. I looked down and my hands that were tied together in front of me and noticed my fingertips turning blue. I curled my hands into fists in a last ditch effort to keep my fingers from getting frostbite. Haven got pretty cold during the winter but then again I didn't prance around in a tank top when it was snowing outside.

Eventually, the leader came back and dragged me into a large tent. A fire was going in the center and he pushed me down in front of it. I grunted as I landed hard on my rear end. I glared over my shoulder at the blonde but he had already turned away to talk to another marauder. I sighed and tried to warm up some.

Another marauder entered the tent and sat a plate of food in front of me. He untied my wrists then went to sit in a nearby chair with his gun in his lap. I looked down at the food, ready to just ignore it and refuse to eat when my stomach grumbled loudly. My resolve broke and I took a tentative bite of some sort of meat.

A few moments later the blonde leader dismissed the man who had brought the food and pulled a chair up by the fire to sit next to me. The man dug into his own meal. It wasn't until he finished that he finally spoke.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked down at me, "My name's Erick."

"That's great," I stated sarcastically, setting down my plate.

I saw Erick roll his eyes out of my peripheral, "What's yours? I can't just go around calling you prisoner or whatever."

I let out a frustrated sigh, "It's Jenny."

"Hmm, I kinda like that name," he said with a smirk before standing. "Anyways, time to hit the sack. We have a long trip tomorrow."

I was tied to a post in the middle of the tent that held the whole thing up. I was given a small blanket to lie on and I was close enough to the fire to keep warm. Eventually I feel into a restless sleep.

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**(Torn)**

The commander had been sitting at his desk in his office all afternoon. It was very rare that he spent time at his desk if he didn't absolutely have to be. Jak had long since left to go search the city for any clues on where Jenny might be; he couldn't stop himself from pacing while Torn worked so the commander sent him away. Torn had been trying to track her comm. unit but he could only search a small area at a time.

Torn gave a frustrated sigh before standing up and walking out of the office. He let his feet carry them where they may just as long as it was away from that horrible office.

Eventually he found himself standing in a large room filled with cells around the walls. The place had been abandoned for some time but Torn recognized the room immediately. In the middle was a large metal chair surrounded by computers and other machinery.

Since the death of Baron Praxis the room had been empty. Torn's boots kicked up dust and dirt as they carried him across the room towards one of the cells. Slowly he punched his knuckles against the button on the door and it slid open. Inside was exactly as it had been the first time he ever stepped inside this cell. The dirty mattress on the floor, the ragged sheet it was all the same though maybe covered in more dirt.

This was where he'd first met her.

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_The brunette commander stepped inside the large room. He watched as a young girl, maybe twelve or thirteen, was dragged towards the large metal chair in the center of the room. The girl looked even smaller against the large chair. Torn shook his head and sighed as he moved to stand next to Erol and Baron Praxis. _

_The little girl looked up at him and stared. He averted his eyes but could still feel her green eyes on him ._

"_Let's get this over with," Baron Praxis stated. _

_Torn nodded and turned to press the button on the computer behind him before hesitantly turning back around to look at the girl. She was trembling as the machine stared up and a large needle pressed into her right arm. Then she began screaming. _

_The little girl thrashed around on the chair with such force Torn was sure she was going to injure herself. There was a sickening pop as she dislocated her shoulder. Without thinking the commander turned around and shut down the machine. _

"_Why did you stop the experiments, Commander Torn?" the Baron growled._

_Torn responded almost immediately, "She dislocated her shoulder. She's no good to us if she rips herself apart."_

_The girl began sobbing next to them and the brunette resisted the urge to look at her. _

_Praxis nodded, "She survived the first experiments. Take care of her injuries and we'll continue again tomorrow."_

_Erol and Praxis left and Torn began removing the restraints around the girl's wrists and ankles. He reached for her arm and she jerked away before crying out in pain. _

"_Stop moving," he hissed at her. "I'm going to make the pain go away."_

_Torn jerked down on her arm and she screamed but he knew it had to be done. Her shoulder moved back into place but he knew she had probably ripped something in her shoulder. He lifted her easily off the chair and carried her over to her cell. He laid her on the mattress before leaving to grab a bag of ice. _

"_Here, put this on your shoulder it should help," the brunette stated holding out the bag. _

_The girl nodded and did as she was told, "Where am I?"_

"_You're in the Fortress," the man stated. "What's your name?"_

"_Jenny," she mumbled looking up at Torn with wide green eyes. _

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Torn sighed and turned away from the cell. He need to get back to work so that he could find Jenny and get her home as quickly as possible.

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**(Jenny)**

_I was standing in Haven Forest underneath the Great Tree. It was dark overhead like a storm was approaching. I sat against the base of the tree and sighed. I closed my eyes for a second before snapping them open when I heard the clap of thunder. When I opened my eyes the dark creature was standing in front of me. _

_I stood quickly and began backing away from her. This only made her smirk. _

"_**You know I'm much faster than you are," **__she stated, stepping closer. __**"Don't bother trying to run."**_

"_What do you want?" I growled. _

"_**Oh, so quick to get defensive," **__the dark creature laughed darkly. __**"I'm here because maybe we can help each other out."**_

_I merely raised an eyebrow at her. _

"_**You let me out and let me stretch my legs a little," **__a smirk spread across her face. __**"And I'll get you out of this nasty predicament you've managed to get into."**_

"_No!" I snapped. "I'm not giving you control."_

_The dark creatures smirk turned from amusement to threatening as she barred her teeth, __**"Then I'll just have to force you too."**_

_My eyes widened as she lunged at me, claws ready to tear me apart. _

.

.

.

I was shaken awake sometime early the next morning. The leader, Erick grabbed my wrists and pulled me to my feet. In doing so he made the gloves on my arms bunch together revealing the nasty scars that marred my left forearm.

Erick frowned and before I could pull away from him he jerked the glove down to see the rest of the scars. His brows furrowed as he looked at my scars.

"Dark eco freak?" the blonde asked removing his gaze from my arm to my eyes.

I glared and jerked my wrists out of his grasp, "It's none of your business."

"Who did that to you?" Erick persisted.

"A KG commander named Erol," I stated with narrowed eyes. "Doesn't matter. He got what was coming to him in the end."

Erick raised an eyebrow at me, "You killed him?"

I gave a short dark laugh, "No. He tried to kill my friend and ended up flying into barrels of dark eco and blown to pieces instead."

"You were having a nightmare last night," Erick stated. "Was it about him?"

I snorted, "I'm not afraid of things that are dead. Besides why do you care?"

Erick smirked and raised an eyebrow, "I don't. I'm just naturally curious."

I rolled my eyes as the marauder led me out of the tent.

The sun was just starting to come over the horizon and it was still chilly outside. I shivered as Erick walked towards the camel-horses. I looked around and noticed that the camp had been completely taken down and all the other men were getting ready to move out. Erick began walking and waved his arm for the others to follow. Today the men just walked in a large blob rather than in formation. They chatted among each other, smiling and laughing.

.

.

.

**(Jak)**

The blonde hadn't slept at all. He had been up walking around the palace while Torn attempted to track Jenny's comm. unit. He knew that Jenny had to be in some sort of trouble if she hadn't come back yet. And the more time it took Torn to locate her the worse the situation could get. She had already been missing nearly twenty-four hours.

Jak was now on his way up to Torn's office to see if the commander had found anything useful. He rounded a corner while looking down at his boots and ran into something hard.

The hero looked up and saw a pale young man with dark hair and eyes wearing FL armor.

"Sorry," Jak mumbled, making to continue on his way.

"Hey, you're Jak right?" the soldier asked. "If it's alright me asking, where's the LT been? Training has been called off twice now."

"Jenny's went missing and Torn and I have reason to think it was foul play," Jak stated.

The man's eyebrow raised, "So she never came back from the Metalhead Nest?"

"What?" Jak asked, quickly. "When did she go to the Nest?"

"Yesterday morning I ran into her when she was leaving," the soldier informed. "She had all her gear on and said Torn was sending her to the Nest to check our reports on new metalhead eggs growing out there."

"Shit!" Jak cursed, moving around the man quickly and running towards Torn's office.

He burst through the doors and the commander looked up at him with a glare.

"Look, Jak, I'm working as quickly as I can…," Torn began but the blonde cut him off.

"I just ran into a soldier that said he saw Jenny yesterday before she disappeared," Jak stated, his breathing slightly labored. "He said when he talked to her that she was heading to the Nest."

Torn's eyes widened and he stood up quickly, "Well shit. Let's go."

Jak nodded following Torn out of the office.

.

.

.

**(Jenny)**

I shrugged my shoulder up in order to wipe the sweat off my forehead. I watched enviously as Erick took a long drink of water. We had been walking for a couple of hours and I was already parched. I was beginning to understand why water was so important out in the desert.

Erick looked back at me while he took another sip and raised his eyebrow.

"Thirsty?" he asked before wiping the back of his hand across him mouth.

"No," I stated stubbornly looking away from him.

He thrust the canteen in front of me, "Drink."

I glared but took the canteen in both of my hands and took a long drink. When I had had enough I held it back towards the marauder. I looked around at the men and noticed that the farther we walked the more restless the other man got.

"We're getting close to the ships," Erick informed.

.

.

.

**(Jak and Torn)**

The two men had made it out to the Metalhead Nest. They parked there zoomers and walked over to where they saw another one sitting. Torn examined the vehicle and then turned to Jak.

"This was the zoomer that was issued to her," Torn informed. "She was here."

Jak turned and saw something sitting on the ground, half buried in sand. He bent over and dusted the thing off before holding up a crushed comm. unit.

"She must have been ambushed," Jak stated. "There's an empty clip over there from her pistol."

Torn nodded, "But who? If it were a metalhead attack and they had gotten her there would be blood."

As the commander thought he walked a good distance away from where they had found the shells that had to have come from many other guns near her zoomer.

"It must have been marauders," Torn stated, turning back towards Jak and moving to get on his zoomer. "We won't be able to track them; their tracks would have already been covered by the churning sands. But if marauders ambushed and took her then they'd be head for the coast. The only natural cove is about an hour's drive away. That's where they'd most likely be headed."

"And if you're wrong?" Jak asked, concerned.

"Let's not think about that."

* * *

**A/N: Eeek! I'm so sorry this took so long to get out. Lots of school and work and a new obsession for Mass Effect… **


	4. Last Resort

_**Scars and Souvenirs**_

**Chapter 4: Last Resort**

After an hour of walking through the desert I was not a happy camper. My pants leg had ridden up allowing the top of my boots to rub a blister in my calf, my exposed skin was sunburnt, my mouth tasted like sand, and where the rope was tied around my wrist the skin had been rubbed raw and in some places even bleeding a little. It wasn't so much that I was in a lot of pain it was just irritating that these small nuisances couldn't be changed. Anytime I stop and bent over to tuck my pants back into my boots one of the marauders would bump me in the ass with their gun to keep me moving.

I wanted nothing more than to be back home in Haven with Jak. I knew he would know something was wrong. Torn would have told him when I hadn't come back from my mission and the two of them would be looking for me. I just hoped they found me before we reached the ships because once we set off I knew it would be nearly impossible for Torn to track us.

I was so terrified I would never see Jak again.

Everything had been going great. Baron Praxis and Metal Kor were dead. Ashelin had begun ruling Haven as its governess. Torn was the commander of the Freedom League and I just recently became its lieutenant. Jak and I were happy. And then all this happened. In just twenty four hours everything had gone horribly wrong.

I took a deep breath and my eyes widened when I smelt salt water. Squinting my eyes I looked out to the horizon and saw that we were nearing a coast. The land stayed level until it ended in a cliff but straight down the middle the sand sloped down towards the ocean. A large metal ship was docked at the harbor. I could just barely make out a few men walking around on the upper deck.

I sighed, hoping for a miracle.

.

.

.

**(Jak and Torn)**

The two men were nearing the coast. Jak had his goggles pulled down over his eyes and his scarf pulled up to cover his mouth and nose. Torn had put on armor before they had left and had a helmet to keep the sand out of his eyes.

Jak was beginning to worry they were to late when he spotted the large group of men walking towards the harbor. Jak used his goggles to zoom in on them and spotted Jenny. Her skin was bright red and her hands were tied together but other than that she looked unharmed.

Gripping the zoomer with his knees, Jak pulled his morph gun off his back and switched it to the blaster mod. Torn had already un-holstered his pistol and had it ready.

As they got closer to the marauders they must have heard the noise of the zoomers because they turned around, pulling their guns from their back and began firing at the two men. Having become easy targets up in the sky, both men dropped their zoomers to the lower zone so that they were flying just over the sand.

Jak fired his blaster twice while balancing on the zoomer taking down a marauder before having to grip the handles. Torn took down two marauders before dodging around them and circling back around. As the blonde pasted the marauders he managed to switch his gun to the Peace Maker mod. He fired into the large group hitting and killing one while electrocuting others standing nearby.

Jak looked around again for Jenny and spotted her being dragged towards the ship. The other marauders were also retreating. Jenny's eyes were wide as she looked straight at Jak.

.

.

.

**(Jenny)**

I grunted loudly as Erick jerked me forward. I looked away from Jak and began struggling to get out of the man's grasp. He was attempting to shoot down Torn with his long barrel pistol but with me jerking around so much he wasn't able to aim very well. Finally getting frustrated, Erick grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards him hard. I cried out as pain spread from my wrist up my arm. The blonde marauder just glared at me and threw me over his shoulder. I yelped and began attempting to kick him and hit him in the back as hard as possible. Erick merely grunted and began hauling me off towards the ship.

I saw Jak fly past us again, this time jumping of the zoomer in behind Erick and the other marauders. The rest of the men began running past Erick and I as Jak aimed his blaster at Erick while the man pulled me off his shoulder. He placed his pistol to my temple and wrapped an arm around my shoulders to keep me pressed against his chest.

"It seems were at an impasse," Erick stated and I could hear the smirk in his voice. "You shoot me, I shoot her."

"Just let her go!" Jak growled and I saw a spark of dark eco jump off him.

"Now why would I do that?" Erick laughed. "It seems instead of having one prisoner I'll have three."

"What do you want with her?"

"Slaves go for a high price," the blonde informed. "Since my men and I spent all of the raiding season out here we needed to make some profit."

A few of the marauders were starting to get closer. I saw Torn still on his zoomer trying to take down as many of them as possible but now that they had spread out it was getting harder.

Nearby, I heard a shot.

I jerked to look towards Jak and watched him go down. I screamed and tried to break Erick's grasp but instead he let me go before quickly putting his boot to my back and shoving me into the sand.

"Get to the ship!" Erick yelled, before pulling me up and hitting his gun against my head, effectively knocking me out.

.

.

.

**(Torn)**

Torn watched Jak go down. He was gripping his leg with both hands as he dropped his gun a fell into the sand. To the blonde's credit, he quickly recovered his blaster and attempted to shoot down the retreating marauders. The commander jumped off his zoomer and rushed over to Jak. He looked up to watch as a limp Jenny was hauled off by the marauder leader.

By the time Torn reached Jak, the man had gone unconscious. Sighing, Torn heaved the man over his shoulder and climbed back on his zoomer to head back to Haven.

.

.

.

**(Jenny)**

I groaned as I came too. I realized quickly that Torn and Jak's rescue attempt had officially failed as I took in the wood deck I was lying on. I could feel the sway as the metal boat moved through the water. It wasn't long before I started to feel nauseous.

"Looking a little green there, milady," Erick said.

I turned quickly to snap a rude remark at him but ended up feeling sicker than I already felt. Instead of speaking I put my head between my knees and groaned.

I heard Erick chuckle above me before he placed a bucket in front of me, "You might need this."

The man walked off, leaving me to my own misery.

.

.

.

**(Torn)**

Torn, after having dropped Jak at the infirmary, was storming through the palace. Everyone walking through the halls moved quickly to get out of the brunette's way. He marched purposefully into the Governess' office. The red head woman was sitting at her desk talking to a man in a business suit.

"Torn, what's the meaning of this?" Ashelin asked glaring at him for interrupting her meeting.

"Look, it's an emergency," Torn stated, nodding politely to the other man.

"Can we reschedule?" Ashelin asked the man who quickly nodded and left the room. "What's going on, Torn?"

"Jenny has been taken by marauders," Torn started. "We need to get some FL soldiers ready to go after them…"

Ashelin cut the commander off, "Torn we can't justify sending Freedom League soldiers to hunt down a lieutenant even if she is our friends. Besides, if we started marching our army through the desert, it might give the other marauder tribes and cities the wrong impression. We don't want to start another war."

Torn shook his head knowing the governess was right, "Then I'll go after them."

"Take a few men with you," Ashelin said. "Maybe some former Underground members?"

Torn nodded already starting to go through who to take.

"And Torn," Ashelin said resting her hand on the commander's shoulder. "Be careful."

.

.

.

**(Jenny)**

After a few hours on the ship the nausea had begun to wear off… as long as I kept my sights on the deck and not the miles upon miles of ocean. I did have to use the bucket once, though.

A large bucket full of soapy water and a brush was dropped in front of me. I looked up and saw Erick's second in command. He had the same tan skin and light hair as the rest of the marauders but he was a bit shorter and stockier than Erick. He kept his hair cut shorter than most of the others. I think his name is Samuel.

"Get to scrubbing the deck," the man stated. "You have to start working for your dinner now, hon."

The man walked off to tend to his own business and left me to wash the floor boards. I took the brush and dipped it in the water and got to work.

.

.

.

**(Jak)**

The blonde slowly opened his eyes. His mind was still foggy from the pain meds. He looked down at his leg and found it wrapped in a cast. The entry wound to the bullet had healed quickly enough thanks to the eco in his body but healing bones seemed to be out of the question. Jak shook his head then rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand.

Images of Jenny knocked unconscious and being dragged away filled his mind. He grow, led and moved to stand up.

"And just where do you think you're going?" a woman asked and he turned to see the nurse.

"I need to go talk to Commander Torn," Jak hissed.

"Well then just lay back down. The Commander is here to see you," she said, quickly checking over everything and leaving the room.

"JAK! What happened to you?!"

The blue eyed man looked up and saw Torn standing in the doorway with Daxter on his shoulder.

"I got shot, Dax," Jak informed shaking his head "Broke my leg."

"And this is why you shouldn't go anywhere without me!" the ottsel continued. "And where's Jenny? I went by your place and the place was clean. You two moving or something?"

"Some strange things are going on," Torn said, shaking the orange rodent off his shoulder. "Jenny's been taken by marauders."

"WHAT?!"

"We have to go after her," Jak insisted attempting to get up again.

"And we will," Torn assured. "I'm getting a small team ready to head out. I think I have a good clue on where they might be headed. But you're not coming."

"Like hell I'm gonna sit here while those men are dragging Jenny off to precursor's know where," the blonde growled.

"And how do you think you're going to fight them with a broken leg?" Torn shook his head. "Look, you have to stay here and heal. I'll go after her."

"Take Dax with you," Jak said, shocking both.

"Why the hell would I take that annoying rodent?"

"HEY!"

"Daxter is really helpful. He can get to places you can't and he's really good at eavesdropping. Not many people pay attention to him until he starts talking. He can help you find her."

"Fine," Torn said. "Someone should let Sig know."

"Jenny said a couple days ago that he was going out of town," Jak informed. "But as soon as he's back I'll let him know."

"We'll keep in contact," Torn said heading for the door.

Daxter jumped onto Jak's lap, "You sure about me going with Torn?"

"Yeah, I think you can really help."

Daxter tried to look confident but Jak knew what he was really thinking. They had spent their entire lives together. They had never spent more than a couple days without the other except when Jak was imprisoned for two years.

"I'll be fine without ya till you get back," Jak joked nudging the rodent with his fist.

"Right, we all know you wouldn't survive without me around," Daxter laughed.

Jak smirked, "Better get going before Torn leaves without you."

"See ya later."

.

.

.

**(Jenny)**

I had managed to scrub a fourth of the deck before one of the men came over and picked up my bucket. I glared up at the bearded man before he dumped the soapy water on me.

I jumped up from kneeling as the man turned to laugh with the others behind him. I grabbed the bucket from him and slammed it against his head. He cried out before turning back to me. He touched the back of his head and it came back bloody.

"Bitch!" he yelled, his dark eyes angry. "You'll pay for that!"

"Bring it, asshole," I snapped.

He moved to throw a punch at me. I grabbed his fist in mine, turning quickly so that my back was to him and using his own momentum flipped him over my shoulder and he slammed down on the deck. The man struggled to return air to his lungs. When he finaly got back on his feet he moved quickly and grasped my wrist twisting it back.

I grunted and lifted my foot and put a boot in his gut. He landed right at Erick's feet.

"What the hell is going on here?!" he questioned glaring at the man at his feet then up at me. "And why are you wet?"

"He dumped water on me," I stated nodding towards the man who was getting back up rubbing his sore head.

Erick grabbed the man's collar and pushed him away, "Get back to your post. All of you!"

The men shuffled off. Erick turned and grabbed the front of my shirt pulling my face up to his, my feet leaving the ground.

"Don't let me catch you fighting with my men again," he growled.

He tossed me aside and I landed hard on my rear. Grabbing the bucket he chunked it at me before storming off.

I sighed and stood to go find more soap.

* * *

**A/N: GAH! This chapter gave me hell. I had it planned out and had it almost done… then realized that my plan for it didn't make sense for how I wanted things to go so I went back and had to rewrite the whole thing!**

**Anyways hope you enjoy! **

**Also, I've been trying my hand at drawing. There should be links to deviantart on my profile so go check those out! **


	5. High Voltage

_**Scars and Souvenirs**_

**Chapter 5: High Voltage**

I went below deck and began searching for the soap. I found a supply closet and began looking through it. I rifled through the top shelves and only found kanga-rat poison. I grimaced at the thought of running into one of those. I got on my hands and knees and ducked under the lower shelves and began moving boxes around.

As I was searching I fell deep in thought. How was I going to get out of this mess? I could always release my dark side and let her kill everyone on the ship but I had no clue how to sail a ship in order to get it back to Haven. And if I did let the monster loose would it just give her more control over me? The thought frightened me. I thought about Jak and Torn coming after me. I couldn't help worrying about Jak and kept seeing him clutching his leg in pain after getting shot. I shook my head, Jak would be okay. One shot to the leg wasn't going to kill him. And I knew Torn would come after me with a better plan. I just had to bide my time until they got here.

"What are you doing?"

I yelped and hit my head against the shelf. Rubbing my head I backed out of the closet and looked up to see Erick's second-in-command looking down at me with a not-amused raised eyebrow.

"I was looking for soap," I stated and got an odd look in return. "Ya know so I can finish washing the deck?"

"Oh," the man stated, his brown eyes softening slightly. "Cleaning supplies are in the closet at the end of the hall."

"Thanks," I said.

Having finally found the soap I went back above deck to get water. I found rope and tied it tightly around the handle of the bucket before lowering it slowly into the blue water below. I let the bucket sink below the waves before heaving it back up and over the railing. I poured a little out and pour soap into it before heading back to where I had stopped and continuing.

.

.

.

**(Torn)**

"I need you to come with me on a mission," Torn stated.

Jinx tapped his chin in thought, "That pretty brunette? Sure I'll go, Torny. Things have been boring around here since the baron kicked the bucket."

Torn rolled his eyes and looked towards Dax who was being gushed over by Tess. How those two became a couple, Torn had no clue. The blue eyed man turned and looked around the Naughty Ottsel before he noticed a FL soldier approaching him.

"Commander Torn," the youth addressed giving a salute. "Did something happen to LT Cooper?"

"She's been captured by marauders," Torn stated.

The soldier absorbed this before speaking again, "I want to help get her back."

Torn nodded contemplating this, "Sure we could use the extra help. What's your name soldier?"

"Private Chase Landers, sir."

.

.

.

**(Jak)**

"Well the entry wound has healed completely," Dr. Tristan Hakim stated looking through his files. "However it seems like the eco isn't helping much with the broken bones. You'll be in a cast for a few weeks."

Jak gave an aggravated sigh, "So when can I get out of here?"

"Normally we'd make you stay for a couple days to make sure there's no infection," Tristan stated. "But I know I couldn't keep you here a couple days unless I cuffed you to your bed so I let you go tomorrow if your blood work comes back normal."

"You know it's not," Jak huffed.

Tristan rolled his eyes at the blonde, "I meant normal other than the dark eco."

As Tristan left Samos and Kiera entered the room giving quick nods to the doctor. Kiera launched herself at Jak hugging him tightly.

"Jak, are you alright?" she questioned, sincerely concerned.

"Fine," the blue eyed man stated shrugging her off.

Kiera back away as Samos neared the man, "Jak, my boy, are you alright?"

Jak rubbed his forehead, "I'm worried about Jenny."

"Yes, we heard," Samos said, evident worry in his voice. "I'm sure Torn and Daxter will get her back soon enough."

"I wish I was going with them," Jak sighed.

"You need to heal first," Kiera said patting his shoulder. "They'll get her back."

Kiera gave Jak a friendly smile. Even though she still liked the blonde now was no time to try and make a move on him. The teal haired woman was genuinely worried about Jenny. She'd heard marauders were ruthless and anything could happen to the young lieutenant. Kiera wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Jak nodded, "Thanks."

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.

.

**(Jenny)**

The sun was setting when I finally finished scrubbing the deck. Samuel came and found me and led me below deck. We passed the mess hall where the rest of the men were eating dinner. As he continued down the hall my stomach growled.

"You'll get dinner," Samuel said looking at me over his shoulder. "But you won't be eating in the mess with men. You'll have dinner in Erick's cabin."

I huffed as he stopped at the door at the end of the hall. He held the door opened and motioned for me to enter. I stepped inside and the man closed the door behind me. The cabin was small with just two hammocks hanging against one wall and a desk against the other and a rug in the middle of the floor. I noticed that the desk was bolted to the floor.

Erick was sitting on the bottom hammock looking through some papers an already empty plate by his feet. Not looking up he pointed to the desk. I looked and found a plate of food. I grabbed it and sat on the floor and began eating. About half way through the meal Erick finally looked up from his work.

"You'll sleep up there," he said pointing to the hammock above his before returning to his work.

I finished eating and sat the plate back on the desk and turned around to look at the hammock. There was no way I could get up there on my own.

"What are you waiting on? Just climb up there," Erick stated.

I glared at the dirty blonde haired man, "I'm short."

Erick gave me an amused smirk as I turned to grab the chair at the desk. I sat it in front of the hammocks just to the side of Erick and stepped on top of it. I managed to swing my leg over the side of the hammock before rolling in. I thought lying on rope would be painful but it was rather comfortable. It wasn't long before I fell into a deep sleep, rocking gently with the waves.

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.

.

"_Jennifer!"_

_My eyes shot open and I realized I was standing in Haven forest. I looked around for the dark creature but all I saw was the bright light. It got closer and I managed to make out a precursor. _

"_Alaster? What the hell are you doing here?!" I growled storming menacingly up to him. _

"_Jennifer, thank the goddess I was able to contact you," Alaster sighed in relief. "The other elders, Kilo and Thane specifically, are trying to get rid of you."_

"_No shit," I said, not amused. "What are you doing here? Trying to kill me off too?"_

_The precursor shook his head, "Not all the precursors agree with Kilo. You helped save one of our kind from Kor. If you hadn't have saved that precursor egg then we would have ceased to exist. In most eyes you're a hero. But no one wants to stand against Kilo and Life. She has plans for this world and you don't fit into them."_

"_So she's just going to kill me off?" I questioned raising my eyebrow. _

_Alaster nodded, "But things haven't gone as Thane wanted. Life is very angry that Jak has been hurt."_

"_Why can't they just leave me be?" I asked looking up at the precursor. "Things were finally go so good. Jak wouldn't have been hurt if I hadn't been taken. Which I'm assuming is due to the scheming of Thane?"_

"_Correct," Alaster sighed. "I don't know how he did it but he managed to get you captured to do his influence without alert Death to Life's plan. Death has been quiet for some time now and Life is trying to keep it that way."_

"_And why can't they just leave us out of there drama?" _

"_Whether you know it or not you are more important than just being Jak's guardian," Alaster stated. "You'll be the one that turns the tide in the upcoming war. It's all on you."_

"_If that's the case then why wouldn't Life just try to get me on her side?" I asked. _

_Alaster seemed amused but it was hard to tell when all his features were the same color, "Look how well you took to being Jak's guardian? If anything you would have probably told her to… how you humans say… 'Fuck off'."_

_I laughed lightly, "True."_

"_Life doesn't like unknowns. If it were just Jak in this then he would have willingly joined her side without much persistence. They thought you would be the same. But no of us could have predicted that you would so blatantly disobey the precursors."_

"_Damn, this is all so confusing," I mumbled rubbing my hand across my forehead. _

_Alaster placed a cool, glowing hand on my shoulder, "Right now you just have to survive. Torn, Daxter, and others are coming for you."_

"_Right," I took a deep breath. "Just stay alive."_

_Everything began fading away from me and I started to fall._

.

.

.

I jerked awake in the hammock almost falling out. I looked out the port hole and it was still dark outside. I looked around and saw Erick sitting at his desk. I looked down and found that a blanket had been laid over me while I slept. I turned to look back at the marauder leader and caught him looking over his shoulder at me.

He turned back to his work before he spoke, "You got cold."

I nodded, "Did you sleep at all?"

"Yes," he answered as I climbed out of the hammock using the chair I had left next to it the night before. "Come here."

I did as he said and as soon as I was in reach he grabbed my arm and held my wrist into the light for him to see. I hadn't notice but it had bruised from where the man from yesterday twisted it. It was dark purple all the way around but it didn't hurt nearly as bad as it looked. The blonde shook his head and returned to his work.

"Sam is on his way with breakfast," Erick informed. "Once you're done eating he'll show you where the bath room is so you can get cleaned up."

I raised an eyebrow at the marauder but didn't say anything. The door opened and Erick's second walked in with two plates of food. I devoured mine quickly and the man waited for me to finish before leading me down the hall. When we finally stopped in front of one of the many doors he turned to me.

"There's towels and soap in there," he handed me a pile of clothes that I hadn't realized he was caring. "And there's something clean to wear. I'll wait out here."

I nodded and quickly moved inside the room. The bath room was a small room with a bath covering most of the area. There was a port hole to the left and I could clearly see out of the ship at the rising sun. The bath was filled with steaming water. I noticed all along the wall a rack of towels and on a shelf multiply bars of soap.

I began peeling off my FL clothes just now realizing how sticky and uncomfortable they were. There was also sand all in my clothes, my hair, and places where sand definitely shouldn't be. With a sigh, I slipped into the warm bath until just my nose was above the water. After a minute, I grabbed some soap and began scrubbing down.

.

.

.

**(Torn)**

The large Air Train shook as the desert winds hit them. Torn was driving and Chase was sitting next to him. In the back Jinx was cleaning his gun. Daxter jumped over the seat in between the two men.

"So where we headed, Tattoo Face?" Daxter asked.

Torn glared at the ottsel, "Kras City. Those marauders weren't from around here and the next closes land mass besides the Wasteland is Kras. Most likely they'll be stopping there for fuel and supplies."

Torn scratched his head. How the hell had Jenny gotten herself into this mess? And how were they going to get her out of it? The brunette shook his head, he'd come up with a plan when they caught up to the marauders. For now, he just had to hope Jenny survived long enough for them to catch up.

_Jenny's a tough girl_, Torn thought. _She'll be okay._

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**(Jenny)**

I stepped out of the bath room towel drying my hair. I followed Samuel back down the hall to Erick's room trying to comb my hair out with my fingers. Erick was waiting for us outside his door and together we went up on deck. The deck was alive with motion. In the distance I could see land.

"What's with all the hustle and bustle?" I asked looking around.

"We're pulling into port," Erick informed. "Welcome to Kras City."

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**A/N: YAY! I actually got this chapter up in a timely manner! But now I have to go study for my finals! So enjoy and please review!**


	6. Easier to Run

**A/N: I just wanted to give a BIG THANK YOU to Keyblades of Oblivion who has reviewed EVERY chapter (also being the ONLY person who has reviewed). **

**But I'd also like to thank everyone who has read this story as well as Rise and Fall which has over 10,000 views and over double the number of favorites and alerts as the original A World We All Live In. So THANK YOU!**

**On with the story!**

_**Scars and Souvenirs**_

**Chapter 6: Easier to Run**

The large ship pulled into port within the next hour. It wasn't long before we were walking down the gang plank onto dry land. After being on the ship for a couple days my legs were wobbling a little. I couldn't understand how these men who spend so much time on ships could just go from sea to land so easily. I walked between Erick and Samuel trying very hard to not look like I was drunk.

Erick smirked, "You'll get used to it."

_Like hell,_ I thought. _I'm making a run for it as soon as possible._

Kras City was huge. Probably as large, if not larger, than Haven. But what made it seem that much bigger was the lack of walls. I looked around in awe at the openness. In Haven I always felt trapped. It didn't matter how far you ran, you always run into a wall eventually.

"How come this place doesn't have walls like Haven?" I asked, still gazing up at the tall buildings. "Wouldn't the metal heads take over?"

"There aren't metal heads out here," Erick stated as we started down the docks. "The metal heads tend to stick to Haven and the Wasteland. Besides metal heads can't swim."

"But the Wasteland is an island," I said, contemplating. "So how would they get back and forth?"

Erick raised an eyebrow at me, "Don't you know about the catacombs? There are tons of tunnels between Haven and the Wasteland."

I nodded and continued to follow the men.

We stopped at many shops getting food and other supplies. I kept waiting for the two men to get distracted but one of them had their eye on me at all times.

We walked into a large warehouse followed by a few of the other men. The rest of the crew had been let loose in the city to take care of their own business while the low end of the totem pole had to come along with Erick and Samuel to help carry back supplies.

A short, fat man stood at the counter at the front of the warehouse. He looked up and grinned at the marauder leader as he walked over.

"Erick! What do I own the honor?" the store owner questioned coming around the counter to shake the blonde's hand.

"We're headed back to Buruk," Erick informed. "We need more supplies for the trip back."

"Of course, of course!" the man said, seemingly overjoyed with having Erick as a customer. "Anything you need!"

The store owner led Erick deeper into the warehouse and the other marauders followed. All that was left was Samuel and I. This would be the best chance I got to get away from them.

I approached Samuel as he stood next to the counter watching my every move, "So you must stop by here pretty regularly?"

The man nodded, "We don't usually travel as far south as Haven but we come to Kras often."

"So what's this about a raiding season?" I asked.

"Between here and Buruk is a vast sea. During the winter there are many storms," Samuel said. "We raid during the summer and return before winter or else we're cut off from our homeland."

"Oh okay," I mumbled, looking at the man out of the corner of my eye.

Samuel seemed less tense and he leaned back against the counter. He began leisurely looking around the warehouse. I smirked lightly. This was my chance.

I quickly shot my leg out and kicked him in the back of his ankles making his feet slide out from under him. I only watched as he fell on his rear before bolting through the door. I ran as fast as I could away from the shop but found myself back at the docks. I turned quickly down a wide crowded street going opposite the docks. I managed to dodge most of the people in the street as I continued to sprint. Eventually, I slowed down to catch my breath.

I quickly began thinking of how I would get back to Haven. I could wait around and hope that Torn knew where to look first. But even so it could be awhile before he made it to Kras.

Hoping that Erick and his men wouldn't catch my trail I sat down on a bench to rest. Looking at the surrounding buildings I realized this place must have been big on racing. Large posters of four wheeled racing vehicles and their drivers filled the streets. I decided I could look for a racing job in order to get money to get back to Haven. In the mean time I needed to find a way to contact Torn. I had to let Haven know that the marauders were planning an attack.

I started walking again and noticed that many people had comm. units similar to those we used in Haven. If I could get a hold of one then maybe I could connect to Torn's unit. I didn't have any money so I went for pickpocketing.

I searched the crowd for my target and found a large wealthy looking man stuffing his comm. in a pouch on the back of his belt. I maneuvered quickly through the crowd trying to catch up with him. He turned down another street and I quickly followed.

When I was finally close enough I reached a hand forward to slip into his pouch before deliberately running into him. Before he turned around, I stashed the comm. under my shirt and fell back on my rear.

"Sorry," I mumbled, moving to get up.

"Hmmph, watch where you're going!" the man yelled before continuing on his way.

I smiled pulling the comm. out of my shirt.

"Well that was impressive."

The blood drained from my face as I turned and saw Erick and a few of the marauders. Clutching the comm. tightly I bolted.

"Get her!"

I ran through the crowd using my small size to get through them where the marauders couldn't move as fast. I weaved through the people before running down another street. There was scaffolding next to a building still under construction. I quickly jumped up to the first section then used the ladder on the side to scramble the rest of the way up. The building was mostly just metal bars and when I reached the top I began moving as quickly as possible along the narrow beams.

I could hear the shouting of the marauders behind me but I didn't dare stop to look. I reached the edge of the building and jumped across to the next. I landed hard on the roof of the next building but continued running. I skidded to a halt looking up at the next building which towered over the one I was currently standing on. I looked down and saw a bunch of streamers hanging between the two. Looking behind me I saw a few of the marauder catching up. Taking a deep breath I jumped.

I grabbed one of the streamers and it snapped under my weight. I swung down and over the crowd of people. I let go and rolled along the ground so I wouldn't hurt myself to much. With a grunt I stood and began running again.

Only to be forcefully stopped when I ran into a hard object.

I fell backwards on my rear. I looked up and saw a man with jet black hair and a long red jacket. He looked slightly familiar and I realized he was one of the drivers on many of the racing posters. He gave a slight smirk as he pulled the cigar in his hand away from his lips.

I didn't have much time to think on it as I quickly stood and took off again. I kept running till I was sure I had lost the marauder and ducked into an alley to catch my breath. I leaned against the wall of the alley and slid down on my rear till I was sitting. I rested my head on my knees breathing deeply.

Before I realized it my eyes were sliding shut.

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I jerked awake when I felt someone nudge my foot. I jumped away from the person getting ready to run if it were one of the marauders. When I looked up I found the man I had bumped into the day before the one with the red coat and cigar. I rubbed my eyes and yawned loudly.

"What's a girl like you doing sleeping in an alley?" the man asked with a strange accent.

"Because I have nowhere else to," I stated simply, climbing to my feet and dusting off.

"You were the girl who ran into me," he gave me the same smirk he had yesterday. "What were you running from?"

"It's not really any of your concern," I hissed going to leave and find a quieter spot to work on the comm. unit.

He held his arm up to block me, cigar smoke floating in front of my face, "Maybe we can help each other."

I raised an eyebrow at him and waited for him to explain.

"You obviously need money, food, a place to sleep," the man stated. "And I need an errand boy… or girl. One that is quick and discreet."

"I'm not planning on stay here long term," I stated.

"Wasn't hoping you would," he said as he pushed a piece of jet black hair out of his face. "This is more of a temporary arrangement."

"Good then you have a deal."

"The name's Razer," he informed holding out a gloved hand.

"Jenny."

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I spent the rest of the day delivering letters for Razer. When I finally returned to our meeting place at dusk he led me to a nearby bar and we had dinner. After scarfing down all my food he led me to a warehouse. He unlocked the door and flipped on the light. Inside was a garage filled with racing vehicles. I gapped at the beautiful machines. Each one of them was bright red with black interior and decal.

"This is my racing garage," Razer stated pointing around the room with his cigar. "There's a bed in one of the back rooms as well as a shower. Make yourself at home. I'll come by in the morning."

Razer left without another word. I managed to find my way to the room he had mentioned. There was a small cot and a lamp in the room. For a moment I almost felt like I was back home in one of the rooms of the Naughty Ottsel.

I sat on the cot and pulled the comm. out of my pocket. I found a set of screwdrivers in the room and began working on the small device. It wasn't long before I had it disassembled in front of me on the cot.

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**(Torn)**

A strange hissing noise began coming from his comm. unit. The commander pulled it from his pouch and looked at the screen. On it a very scratchy image of a woman appeared.

It was Jenny.

"_T…Torn?_" she questioned the audio crackling.

"Jenny? I'm here."

"_Oh …ank good…ess,_" she seemed the relax a little. "_… need help. I… stuck in Kras… Marauders… still looking…can't outrun… forever._"

"Just stay alive, squirt, were on our way," Torn stated as the rest of the men crowded around while Dax jumped on his shoulder.

"_Dax?_" Jenny questioned. "_Where's Jak?"_

The orange rodent scratched his head, "He's in the hospital. It seems dark eco doesn't heal broken legs."

Jenny shook her head,"_… he'll be …kay?_"

"Yeah he'll be fine," Daxter informed.

We'll be there in a couple days," Torn said. "Just be careful. And that's an order."

Jenny gave a sloppy salute, "_Yes, sir… about to lose connection… try again tomorrow. Bye…_"

The connection broke and Daxter pulled Torn's comm. out of his hand.

"What are you doing rat?" Torn hissed swiping at the rodent.

"Calling Jak and keeping him informed," Daxter snapped, quickly dialing Jak's comm.

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**(Jenny)**

I pushed the comm. under my pillow and laid down. I pulled the cover up around my shoulders before falling into a deep sleep.

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**A/N: Sorry this chapter is short :-/ … Hopefully more to come soon! **


	7. Important Author Note!

**A/N: I think anyone that reads this has the right to come kick me in the shin… If you can find me. So I'm just gonna come right out and say it… **

**I'M REWRITING THIS WHOLE DANG SERIES!**

**I was looking back over Rise and Fall the other day and realized I could make it SO much better! I have a tendency to start plots and never finish them. I also tend to be a little random… **

**So that's all stopping NOW. I have Rise and Fall planned out so it shouldn't take me to long to get up (hopefully less than a YEAR (which is how long it took the first go around)). And then I'll start on Scars and Souvenirs.**

**So as soon as this is posted I'll post the new Rise and Fall. **

**But here's a preview of the first chapter!**

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_**Rise and Fall**_

**Chapter 1: Fly On the Wall**

I had just walked out of the Power Station after delivering a few things from the Underground when it happened. There was a moment when time seemed to go in slow motion and everything else with it. A loud and sudden crack of thunder ripped through the air and a bright light shot from the sky. Multiple people stopped to watch the streak of light dash across the sky before hitting somewhere in the Industrial Section of the city.

I furrowed my eyebrows as I looked in the directions. Deciding to investigate this strange occurrence I quickly pulled my long, brown hair back before running for the nearest zoomer. With practiced ease, I swung my leg over the seat and began heading in the direction the bright light had landed.

. . .

**Two years earlier… **

_Green eyes began to slowly slide open and having been caked with sand made the process that much more difficult. The little girl began to rub her eyes to rid herself of irritating sensation. She sat up only to be swept up with dizziness and fall back into the hot sand. She swallowed, suddenly realizing how dry her throat and mouth were. With nothing else to do her eyes began sliding shut again as she was taken over by unconsciousness. _

_When she came to again it was to the feeling of moisture on her lips. The brunette's eyes snapped opened she leaned towards the source of the water. A man in his twenties was hovering over her with a wet rag dripping into her mouth. He had brown hair that was pulled away from his face in dreadlocks allowing for full few of the intricate tattoos that covered his chiseled face as well as icy blue eyes. The girl snatched the rag from the man and squeezed the rest of the water into her mouth. _

_She looked around the room curiously. It was large with grey walls and many white beds and not much else. _

"_Good, you're awake," he stated as if one might state the time of day. "We found you out in the pumping station. What were you doing out there?"_

_With a few seconds of deep thought to girl finally answered, "I don't know."_

"_How do you not know? You were outside the city walls?" the tattooed man asked briskly. "Did you get away from your parents? Though at your age you should know better than to ever step foot outside the city."_

_The girl looked up at him with wide eyes, "How old am I?"_

_The man looked shocked, "You don't know?"_

"_I just remember waking up with sand in my eyes and being real thirsty and tired," she stated with green eyes cast downwards. _

_The man stood from her bedside revealing red armor, "I'm going to go get a doctor."_

_With a sad nod the young girl began staring down at her hands folded in her lap._

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**A/N: Now go read the rest of it!**


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